The pandemic was still going on in 2021. We had to use some MVC points for 2021 and booked a tour for the Canadian Rockies. We thought in July of 2020 that a year later would be pretty safe. Well, the tour company (Collette) canceled the Canadian tour in late March because the Canadian border was still closed. We chose to just book something else for the same week in the U.S. This tour looked interesting, and so it began in the city of Providence, RI. When we did our New England trip in 2010, we went to Rhode Island, but didn’t really do much there. Providence is the capital and most populous city of the state of Rhode Island and is one of the oldest cities in the United States, founded in 1636 by Roger Williams. It was nice to experience the city a little bit, including some of its food.

Providence

06/25/21—07/04/21

We flew to Philly and then on to Providence after a delay, but we saw lots of water and a cool bridge.

Checking in at the Hilton with Jeff, our tour manager from Collette, we then walked across the street to Trinity Brewhouse. They had  some good chowder and a nice corned beef sandwich for Madeline. They also had a very interesting mural on the wall.

From the restaurant, we walked up the street as the sun was starting to get low in the sky. We crossed the Woonasquatucket River and made our way to the State House. No one was around, which we found odd for a state capitol building these days, so we just walked around the whole building up on the main level. We then said goodnight to the city.

The next morning, we met our fellow tourists at breakfast at the Hilton. We then boarded our coach for the week, driven by Tom. We drove to Federal Hill past the State House. We continued to College Hill and briefly stopped at the First Baptist Church. Our next stop was at Prospect Terrace, a little park that had a great view of the church as well as the State House. We had our first official photo taken of us.

When we returned from Newport, we went to the Federal Hill district of Providence to eat at Trattoria Zooma for our welcome dinner. Afterwards, we hung out on Atwells Avenue, which was closed for dining opportunities on the street.